29 Commandment of Mastering Office Politics

As demands goes up, so does the pressure by your Oga (boss) to

produce more with less staffing. You can't wage a successful
battle over a successful corporate strategy that is increasing the
company's revenue. Producing more with less is a winner for most
corporations because it differentiates a money-maker from a
money loser. As soon as a company plans a layoff in order to
effectively manage the company's resources, the stock goes up on
Stocks market. Do not be surprised if you are hired to do one
person's job and later it turns out to be two or three people's
jobs. It is a sign of the times - swallow hard, do your best and
move on.

The worst situation you can find yourself in is to start fighting the
changes and letting somebody in your company identify you as a
trouble maker because of your resistance to change. The
psychological implication in addition to the stress of work may be
very devastating, even to a very good worker. The solution is to
position and market yourself for success on the job. Most office
politics will emerge from interpersonal differences between co-
workers and sometimes between workers and their boss.

Once people position and market themselves on the job, other

minor problems become easier to handle. Positioning to market
yourself is a winning strategy for establishing a business
relationship with the company. This relationship is different from
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a romantic affair which carries a lot of risks. Business relationship
engages the brain more than the seduction of human passion. In
this way, a worker learns to give as much as he or she can afford
to a company to help increase the company's bottom line.

The business relationship is established in the employee's mind

and governs every aspect of the work. The trick is, the employee
assumes the role of the owner and deals with the business as his
or her own. An employee who has assumed the position of the
owner does not wait for a chain reaction of events to act; when
there is stagnation, such an employee moves on till the goal is
accomplished.

An employee who has positioned to market him or herself on the

job and, at the same time, has assumed the role of the owner is
always an asset to the company and a winner. It's an effective
strategy to help deflate job stress.

The following 29 strategic commandments will help such an

ambitious worker excel on the job and deflate most interpersonal
tensions involved in office politics.

1. Do your work with dedicated interest and loyalty. Be punctual

at work and try your best to observe the rules and regulations of
the company. (Avoid breaking the edge).

2. Never join other voices to persecute the establishment; your

opinion may be presented to the boss as the only voice of
opposition. Some destructive co-workers who are quick to report
others never admit their role in initiating an anti-establishment
sentiment. Such co-workers won't hesitate to make others look
bad before the boss so they can win brownie points.

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3. Improve your knowledge and professionalism on the job and if
possible, be ahead of the times by reading about current research
findings in your areas of expertise.

4. Be the best at what you do, no matter how small or big the job.
It is not enough to just do the work, always let your work leave a
mark of excellence. Develop (Passion, Expertise and a Support
System to boost your set skills.

5. Do not brag about your achievement. Let your work speak for
itself or let somebody else do the bragging. If you have done a
good work, it will be noticed and appreciated by people who
appreciate good work. Once your co-workers develop the feelings
that you are bragging, you might have set up yourself for a failure.

6. Learn to get along with people who appear not to like you or
whom you may not like. You can learn to work with people you
don't like. Learn not to personalize problems -- it is not about you,
but about work. People communicate at different levels; you
don't have to be intimate to work with a co-worker.

7. Learn to know a co-worker individually and to not base a

relationship on what was said by another person. Most of the
initial negative attitudes developed by co-workers against an
individual usually resulted from a negative notion based on
somebody else's bias. Learn to know an individual; develop a
unique, personal, diplomatic working relationship with that
person instead of allowing prejudice to govern your opinion.

8. Never hold grudges or be vindictive -- these types of behaviors

are always counter-productive. When you are angry over an issue,
admit it to yourself, and then take corrective measures to rectify

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the problem. Once the problem is resolved, let the anger be
deflated and let the problem be history; then move on. The more
you bottle anger inside of you, the more you increase the chances
of an emotional explosion.

9. Learn to have shorter periods of anger when aggravated and let

the matter rest as quickly as possible. Anger toward a co-worker
tends to adversely affect your work. Always find ways to deflate
and diffuse crises on the job involving you and your co-workers,
no matter who is at fault.

10. Accept your imperfections. When you make error, admit it.
The cardinal sin on the job is to blame somebody else for your
errors.

11. Use your errors as learning tools for education, and job
improvement. This is how you turn your weaknesses to strategies
for success.

12. Never join hands to persecute a co-worker or a newcomer.

One of the most destructive behaviors on the job is the refusal to
accept a new employee -- joining hands with others to persecute
an innocent co-worker is unethical. Collective persecution of an
employee is very common in a problematic working environment
just because we need somebody to blame.

13. Those who persecute others are mostly the ones who do the
least on the job. This is their political strategy due to their
inadequacies. Many times these types excel and move up the
corporate ladder, but because they lack compassion for others,
their achievements are always short-lived. Logically present your

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achievements to your boss when you are being persecuted for not
doing enough.

14. Be a negotiator between feuding workers, a fire extinguisher

when problems are brewing on the job. However, remember that
playing this role makes you vulnerable to attacks by others who
thrive on the emotional energy ignited by crisis. They act as if you
are the one trying to take away their candies!

15. Learn to identify and deal with thrill seekers of crisis. Once a
problem is solved, they will create another. After solving the
second, third or fourth problem these chronic pleasure seekers do
not stop; they will find something else wrong to yell about. Know
when to time-out with such people. The rule is, as long as these
people are kept busy, given numerous assignments, their energies
to craft crisis or do havoc will be depleted. Don't react to these
people as nuisances on the job, which chronic complainers can
sometimes be. Look at them as energetic people, looking for
challenges; a manager should assign them to solve the problems
in question.

16. Never destroy co-workers' work or denigrate them to elevate

your status. Most businesses have very strict punishment for
employees destroying co-workers' work. The punishment is
immediate termination! You don't have to destroy somebody else
on the job to achieve your own objective - this is very unethical.

17. Do not bring personal problems to work or persecute co-

workers as a reflection of your personal failures or problems. If
you have problems with your spouse, seek professional help or
talk to a trusted friend. Victimizing co-workers because of
personal problems is not only unethical but very unprofessional.
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18. Never get into a shouting match with a co-worker no matter
how angry you get. When you feel you are being persecuted on
the job, find a nice and diplomatic way to resolve the problems.
Emotional outburst can be counter-productive on the job. Verbal
confrontation can lead to other forms of physical violence.

19. Find a neutral ground to negotiate issues with the boss or co-
workers. When negotiation fails, learn to compromise; when
compromise fails, learn to agree to disagree. Learn to approach
others about job related issues without either intimidation or
being intimidated.

20. When you feel intense anger or hate towards an individual on

the job, immediately look inside yourself. True enough, somebody
could have created a problem for you. But the intensity of your
reaction is usually based on emotional amplification by pre-
existing problems. Looking inside yourself is not to encourage self-
persecution as much as to evaluate whether the anger is targeted
towards the wrong person or situation.

21. Learn to respond without stress to stressful situations. This is

not a strategy that is learned overnight; it is a skill which has to be
mastered. For example, instead of getting into a shouting match
with an irate co-worker, lower your voice; the aggressor may
lower his or her voice to the point of sensible conversation. Learn
to channel negative energies to positive outlets.

22. Improve your work ethics and spend the major part of the job
time producing. It is a misconception that your loyal hard work for
the company is fruitless in the absence of job incentives or
rewards. Once the job is well-mastered and you have developed
good work ethics, you now have a better chance of getting a job
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elsewhere or starting your own business on the side. Good
managers usually appreciate hard-working employees, unless
they are a threat to the managers.

23. Although you want to get along with everybody on the job,
that may not happen all the time. Set a limit on how much you
will take from an abuser. Relate problems to such a co-worker in a
professional way with a neutral tone of voice. For example, if a co-
worker is in the habit of yelling at you, make it clear you don't
appreciate such as unprofessional style of communication. If the
behavior continues, let others witness it. You can take it to the
manager, but try all other diplomatic avenues to resolve the issue.

24. Never take a problem to the manager without having two or

three solutions for the problem.

25. Learn to shield yourself from the emotional abuse of such

people by limiting interaction primarily to work. If the situation
gets too hard to handle because of chaos, ask for a transfer or
look for an exit door and find a new job. Do not wait until you are
completely broken down. Know the danger signs (your body will
tell you) and when to quit. Dealing with "hard nuts to crack" is not
easy. Such workers have compulsive obsessive behavior leading
sometimes to exaggerated responses to trivial issues. These types
of people either have emotional problems or are still emotionally
immature. The problem in such people have been tolerated for so
long that it is hard for them to change.

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26. Deal with an ego-driven manager with diplomacy. Some
supervisors may believe that they are better than others and that
co-workers should be subservient to them. If you treat your boss
as a god, you will pay a painful price because you open yourself to
abuse. An effective manager will treat you with respect and you
should reciprocate.

27. Be the first to try new procedures. People are generally very
resistant to change. Once you rise to the occasion, many people
will join you. Management is always frustrated in trying to
educate people about new procedures and protocol. Many people
who left their jobs because they were intimidated by computers
are now returning to work and learning to use computers.

28. Know your limitations, know the limitations of your boss, do

your best on the job and know when to stop pursuing an issue.
Your greatest asset on the job is your motivation to achieve and
produce. No matter what your job is, always let your work leave a
mark of excellence.

29. Treat your customers with respect and kindness. Welcome

them into the store with a smile and a friendly greeting.
Customers love being recognized by an employee of an
establishment or a store. They feel more comfortable to shop or
do business with your company compared to when they are
treated like intruders. Never complain to a customer about
problems you have in getting things done, it denigrate the quality
of your service.

I wish you SUCCESS.

ouse of Benjamin.
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